The Green Tome
by MogaroMutis
Summary: The bold adventurer Mogaro Mutis has set sail on his "Errant Queen" to explore the mysteries of Sothoryos, a place barely touched by humanity that promises horrors and wonders alike. While writing his adventure in the Green Tome, the captain values your comments on his writing and/or suggestions about new lands to explore ... if he manages to leave the Green Continent alive
1. Chapter 1

**Mogaro Mutis Travel Journals: The Green Tome**

_**Year 374 after the Doom, 260 after the Conquest, 502 of the Golden Dynasty.**_

_Day 1_

_After leaving behind the last dusty library and last pile of ridiculous reports, the "Wandering Queen" had set sail majestically from Volantis at dawn, leaving behind gold, tears, promises and a large group of cravens who have choose to live the rest of their lives waiting for the day of their death instead of going out to face it. That is fine, I will not admit hesitation among my men, and above all I will not admit cowarcy, Sothoryos is one of the most dangerous places in the world and being willing to give everything of urselves is the least that will be required if we want to succeed. For every man who got off my ship 10 wanted to take their place, but I'm afraid that many of them have bigger eyes than the stomach reggarding this adventure, without saying that at least half were completely crazy (which is not quite bad, no sane man has ever achieved something that is memorable.) The trip to New Ghis awaits, and crazy or not, I will use this trip to find out which ones are useful and wich I will disembark in the ghiscari port._

_Day 5_

_Today a couple of idiots fought aboard the ship with sabers because of a game of dice and I had to separate them with my whip. None have been seriously injured, but I have no intention of dealing with such stupidities later in Sothosryos. A true pity, one was an exceptional navigator and the other was one of the most promising lunatics. Both will stay in New Ghis._

_Day 7_

_My calculations on the winds become treacherous, the columns of fire of the Smoky Sea distort the air currents while waves of boiling water shake the ship with violence. The breeze that should blow south suddenly blows to the southeast or even to the north, forcing us to pass close enough to the coast of Valyria to see the light of the Fourteen Flames igniting the darkness of the night. In these moments I feel myself full of pride because while others curse or cry out to the gods, we laugh and drink toasting to the memory of the greatest empire that has ever existed. Beeing honest, I almost wanted to toss away the trip to Sothoryos and head towards the ruins of Draconys, to and write the Red Tome before the Green one, and i know for sure that many of my men would folow me. Unfortunately, we have taken precautions for Sothoryos and not for Valyria, so the Red Tome will have to wait. We follow South._

_Day 14_

_My first officer Tei-Nho spotted the city lights at midnight with his Myrinesse eye glass and announced that we should reach the city by dawn. The "Wandering Queen" has reached its destination in two third parts of the time it would normally takes to a ship that size, and we didn't even have to use the oars._

_Day 15_

_The Ghiscari are a fascinating folk, they are people who instead of living the victory of being one of the most prosperous cities in the Known World, rather choose to live in the defeat of the rancid Old Empire. Women who wear tokar instead of the exquisite Naath lace, men who wield bronze swords instead of steel and children who learn the crude ghiscari dialect instead of high Valiryan are proof of the sick obsession that the Brave Masters have with their past, but as the exception that confirms every rule, the noble Ghaez mo Rheezan stands out from the rest of his town as a visionary and a great adventurer, and he has honored us by offering a guide for us to know the streets of New Ghis. While Astapor is the red city and Yunkai the yellow, New Ghis is built with white cobblestones brought from the Old Empire that provide the city with a sober and pristine aura, the streets are narrow but organized and the main avenues are covered by white marble columns ceowned by harpy-shaped oil lamps that are lit at night. In the central market the infamous slave trade is present as in all Ghiscarian cities, but in New Ghis it is not as bloody as in Astapor or as depraved as in Yunkai, olso I noticed that human trafficking is a minor part of the economy of the city. In the center of the city stands the great pyramid, crowned by the harpy of New Ghis that holds in its claws a thuner made of gold and chains made of silver, that has at it shadow the Heroes' Square and the temple. New Ghis is probably what the cities of the old empire where before Valyria destroyed them, a bright city that hides very well the cruelty on which was built._

_At dusk, after an exuberant dinner, Gáez took me to the top of his pyramid to talk about the expedition and ask me how I planned to face a challenge that had defeated so many. He was much more interested in speaking than in listening of course, but despite that I felt some empathy for the old ghiscari, who compensated for a lack of caution close to stupidity by being able to observe the Green Continent with curiosity and patience, not in the search for treasure or trophies to show off, but the same thing that inspired my old teacher Lun-Hu, and that now inspires me: A fervent obsession to contemplate something no one has ever contemplated. On the other hand this empathy is also due to the reports of his expeditions to Gorosh, Gogossos, Zamethar and Yeen that made when he was young, reports that have been somewhat more useful than the ones from Volantis and the Summer Islands, because Ghaez in his temerity leaded to death half of his crew in ways that nobody had registered before and that are now useful to know what NOT to do._

_Day 16_

_The last preparations are ready, the gold has changed hands and assembled at midday tide we leave the civilized world behind. The expedition is form by three ships: The "Wandering Queen", flagship under my command; the longship "Shark" led by Einar Farwind, and the ratchet "Sweet Sigh" led by my second in command Tei-Nho. Einar Farwind is an ironborn from Lonely Light, a far distant island (which I will certainly visit one day) where the only trustworthy ironborn come from. Under the supervision of oficer Yu-Hang, the "Shark" will be mapping along with the "Wandering Queen" and will be useful for exploring the low-lying rivers. On the other hand, the anormous "Sweet Sight" will be in charge of transporting weapons, tools and supplies for the expedition, but in view of the fact that it was designed to transport bedslaves, i will rename it simply "Whale". Many men have asked me why we take food for six months when there is plenty of room in the "Whale" to support us for year and a half, but that aditional space has to do with the little mischief I´m planing to carry out in Gogossos, and until we arive there is no need for everyone to know. Until the time is right, I shall give a different reason to each person who asks._

_Day 18_

_The wind blows strongly to the Southeast so we had to drive the oars to advance at a good pace to Gogossos. Ghezan warned me not to stop in the ruins and to avoid the island in general because he was aware of my rejection of slavery and my contempt for pirates, both things easi to find in the place where his beloved city used to buy slaves that were captured in Naath and Sothoryos himself. Don not matter, that nest of pirates plays a crucial part in the expedition, and when this journal gets published they will be hundreds who will imitate my methods._

_Day 21_

_At noon we arrive at the Isle of Tears, a first glance contradictory name for such a radiant place, rich in vegetation and infested with colorful birds that gracefully flie over the ship without showing any fear. It saddens me to think that it was man who turned this paradise into a place of waile. We desenbark as far as possible from the "pirate's nest" to avoide exposing our ships, and follow the Trail of Tears, a rudimentary path cleared by the corsairs to facilitate access to Gogossos. To not attract too much attention i went with Einar and a docen of his ironborn who are quite comon in the place. The city tales describe it as ruins made of black rock, but even the mere ruins of Gogossos are an imposing vision that reminds the outsider that this was once the tenth free city. If I remember correctly the Nathies erected it as a sacred place, but the ghiscarians took it away from them and then disputed it with the valyrians for centuries until it remained under control of the Freehold, but in contrast to the regious dragon lords who built colossal towers and Black walls like those of Volantis, its current rulers are the Corsair Kings, an infamous pirate union that has controlled the region since the previous habitants were decimated by disease and war. The population is small and revolves completely around the market where slaves, animals and the treasures that fall into the hands of pirates are sold._

_Observation: While the black stone in walls and roads looks like ordinary marble some buildings in the center of the city are made of something different. Whatever it is, it has barely been spent by rain or wind, and while the other constructions have benn invaded by the jungle nothing alive seems to approach these buildings. I wanted to stay to investigate, but Einar told me that if we stayed for a long time on the island the corsairs could agree to stop fighting each other and attack us. One of the ironbron called Egil told me he felt the stone vibrating._

* * *

The Gogossos brothel was, not to Mogaro´s surprise, the only proprely restored building in the pirate's lair. The Corsair Kings, who were naturally the owners of the premises, had restored a wide manor making the lower level a tavern and the upper ones the brothel itself. It was a simple place, but the decoration was tasteful and had been a couple of musicians and dancers. The place smelled of ash soap and washed clothes.

\- Is it normal for the brothel to be the cleanest place in the city?

\- Here, aye. Pirates only stop killing each other when they are drinking or fucking, this tavern is why so many captains can meet here without ... "creating conflicts". That´s how the Corsair Kings keep peace here. Since you start chatting, are you telling me what are we doing here Mogaro? When you told yer crew that you wanted to buy slaves, I thought they were goin to mutiny. Did´t know that lorathi were slavers.

\- I'm getting tired of telling you that I'm tyroshi. What does it matter to you? Are not all ironborn slavers?

\- Not the ones from Lonelylight. Also in the Iron Islands there are thrals, not slaves

-What would be the difference?

\- Thrals cannot be bought or sold, and their children are born free.

\- It must be comforting to know that wille you are forced to work until death.

\- It's more comfortable than this. - Einar layed in the back of the seat an pointed with his chin the women that were attending the tables. The slavers made them do it while completely naked, and any client could take them to the top floor of the mansion if he paid the owner. To make the spectacle even more grotesque, a crowd shouted in front of a cage in the corner of the tabern where an skinny slave was facing with a dagger a walking lizard. Walking lizards were a strange specie of reptile with stripes and sharp claws that walked upright on two feet and were the fiercest thing Mogaro had seen on his travels. The slave was obviously losing.

\- Mogaro please, what in the hell are we doing here?

\- Buying slaves. - He said with an sour smile - Let's get out of here before I get too tempted to "create a conflict."

Outside the Broothel a group of ironborn played dice and sharpened their weapons. Mogaro had chosen them as an escort because he feared that if he brought his men they would lose their cold and do something stupid. He imagined Tei-Nho jumping in front of the lizard to save the slave. A shiver in his back, it was posible. While his men openly opposed slavery, those of Einar Farwynd only disapproved it. After years of practice the old ways in the Basilisk Islands had made them capable of witnesing the worst things without even flinching.

Outside the brothel the market made his way to the southern entrance of the city. It was the first silent market he seen in his life, nobody shouted the prices because they feared others would make better offers to pouch the buyers, and the guards glanced menacing at eache other as they sharpened their scimitars. Except for the murmur of one buyer or another, only the weeping of the slaves and the roars of the beasts resonated in the market of Goggossos. The biggest attraction was the body of a young wyvern, young because "small" woudn´t have benn the right way to describe it, 30 men had died to capture him alive, but the return trip had been lengthened by a storm and the animal had dead in the ship's hold. They said that the Brotherhood of the Corsair Kings dreamed of taming the wyverns as had been done with the dragons, but so far, the winged reptiles were more interested in eating the pirates than carrying them on their backs. Even dead the animal was worth a fortune, and the parts were removed and axed off to be auctioned in the crowd.

The thing was not working as he had planing, he wanted to talk with the slaves, but the corsairs who guarded them were distrustful and did not allow him to ask questions before buying them. Einar returned to remind him that Gogossos was an area of passage, even the most frequent merchants left as soon as possible for fear of the corsairs assaulting them. The buildings around the market were almost empty, but it always seemed that someone was watching from the ruined windows.

\- We can't leave, not yet. Do you know a less frequented place where I can talk to slaves?

\- Yes, but you'll like it less than the brothel.

The building where Einar took him looked small in the outside but had a huge underground. Mogaro didn't know what that place had served when the infamous city was active, but he was sure he would prefer to remain ignorant as Einar lead him downstaris and throw corridors to a sealed door with a guard aoutside. soo far, it was already wordt than the brothel, and it was just the begining. It was a storage place for the slaves tha had mentaly colapsed at some point after being captured and now were broken man and women. They were taken away from the rest of the goods to be sold for low price or sometimes even to feed the monsters they had bringed from Sothoryos. Mutis had to gather all his willpower just to abstain himself of stabing the guard and ask for permision to go into the broken slave´s chambers. It cost him a silver. Among those who incoherently babbled, shout and worse, a young woman around twenty daynames sited on the corner of the cell caught his attention.

"I want to be alone with her." He gave the guard another silver coin and waited for him to leave before he look at the woman again. She had and reddish skin, and she had been pretty if she hadn't been covered in dirt and her slanted eyes had not been lost in nowhere. Mogaro will get used to standing for several minutes to get used to his presence.

\- What's your name, little one? - The girl gave no sign of having heard the captain. The flies that buzzed around him looked like a corpse, but his chest rose and fell.

\- Maho-Je drevo pah? (What's your name, little one?) - This time he felt like he had the slave's attention, but the spark went out quickly. "You must think that I am a corsair" Mogaro thought. He took off his whip from his belt and threw him out of the room.

\- Drevo Mogaro, Dopa-ho sagava (name Mogaro, I'm not a corsair) - I accompany the prayer by slowly sending my legs crossed to show him that he didn't want to sleep with her. He offered him his water boot. - "Y´u?" (Y = water; Y´u = drink)

The young woman laid her dead eyes on Mogaro, but inside the Lorathi could distinguish a minimum hint of interest. He drank water from the boot and offered it again. She did accept it but only drank a few sips.

\- Ñe'ê ani-porã ku? (I don't speak good the language) - The girl shook her head shyly. It was possible that he had not talked to anyone for days.

\- Vove huahe apé (how long you here) - It was a mistake. There was something similar to a sob and his eyes were dead again. "Idiot, way to fast" he thought. There was no word to apologize in Sothorosy, or at least Mogaro didn't remember it, so he wasn´t able apologize. Time was running short so he decide to find someone else. He got up without showing signs of recovering the water and walked towards the door.

\- Y´vo mo (Water is yours)

\- Kokuhe (A few days ago) - The trick to know if she was listening had worked and, although he was disgusted with himself, he returned to sit down. The young woman was not broken, she had only suffered a lot and I had pased days without knowing anything but violence. Gradually the words went out until they became short sentences at the same time that the girl's eyes began to give sings that they were there and not elsewhere. With trembling hands, she lifted the boot and drank the contents until it was squeezed. Mogaro stood up and nodded his head in thanks. when the man at the door told him that at that point he had to pay three silver coins he passed by. He had to leave the building so that the girl could not see the terrible grin on his face and misunderstand him. Well, she woud have understood that Mogaro was despicable and that was true, but sometimes selfish actions lead to the better for everybody.

The girl cost him ten silver coins and a rum skin. Einar asked him again when they would leave and the captain, for a change, did not silence him and tell him his plan for the the next day. Before the sun rose, they woke the woman and tried, at their best Sothorosy, to explain what they needed from her. The girl who had already suspected it from the previous chat accepted and accompanied them to the center of the market where the first tents were rising. They wandered through each one of the the stalls, to all inhabited building, even for some of the boats in the coast, and every time the woman pointed at someone, Mogaro bought it. He bid in all auctions and pay double or even triple for those indicated that have already been acquired by other buyers. Soon half of the market went to him with his slaves to see if the crazy lorathi actualy bought any slave the bed slave pointed, even for the injured and sick. Mogaro was the center of attention that day, and when his purse became empty, he told everione that he had more gold stored on his "Errant Queen" along with ivory and some pepper from Volantis, so if they reserved the slaves for him, it would all be paid as soon as they brought the slaves to his ship.

When nightfall arrived, the nameless slave had already stopped pointing people and a large caravan left the ruins of Goggoss heading for the beach. Mogaro Mutis, his escort, the slaves and the entourage of meno he owed along with 60 of they personal guards. When they reached the coast, the slavers were very pleased to see how the crazy Lorathi, ordered Einar and his men to take the longboat "Shark" and bring from the "Errant Queen" the pepper and ivory he had promised, but they plesment come to an end when, instead of their paiment the "Shark" brought 40 ironborn armed to the teeth that advanced with hostility while the sailors of the "Wandering Queen" that Tei-Nho had hidden among the vegetation bahind them pointed their rear with repetision crossbows.

\- What is the meaning of this Lorathi? - One of the corsairs asked - Are you foolish enough to think that you can steal here and live to tell?

\- Sorry pirate, but I don't see why i should pay with gold what you paid with blood.

\- Allright, keep them, I will not risk my life for a lot of malnourished slaves, but be aware, if the Corsair Kings find out that you are freeing slaves on their island, there will be no place in the 14 seas where you can hide from their whrath.

\- Oh, I'm sure they´ll find out ... but not from you. Kill them

The fight was brief. The scimitars of the corsairs were no match for the chainmail and breastplates of Einar´s irinborn while the bolts of the repetition crossbows reached all those who tried to flee. While they stripped the corpses of valuable things and threw them in hols they had been digging since dawn, Mogaro aligned his new slaves on the coast and contemplated them with pride. 105 men, women and children from the same village as the broken woman, arrived on the Isle of Tears just four days ago. He try to make them understand his rough Sothorosy.

-Je dopa-ho mo, Tekove záço! (You are not slaves, you are free people), A´so vai-porã, sagava capim! (This place is bad, it is the home of the corsairs), Ju´e Mogaro ygára! (Get on the boat / canoe of Mogaro.) - A fierce-looking man who had been brande with the demon mask of disobidiente slave on his forehead went ahead of the rest and yell to Mogaro

–Oimehápe? (where?)

\- Je-toca (Your home)

* * *

_**Year 364 D.M .; 250 AD; 502 G.D.**_

_Day 22_

_Today we put in move the second phase of the expedition. After spending years in different cities reading and listening to testimonies, I came to the conclusion that all expeditions had sufered large casualties or even failed for the same reason: Determination. The men who are brave enough to explore the Green Continent are usually the promising lunatics I refer to at the beginning of this journal, and thanks to their courage and will-strength they have managed to go further than anyone else, but what is not mentioned is how all had to pay a high price to do it so, and for every one who managed to make discoveries, a dozen perished or had to give up before achieving anything. At this point in the journey you should think of me as the encarnation of arrogance, and it may be true, but i can ashure you dear rider that i am not so arrogant as to challenge Sothoryos only with my willpower._

_This is why we saved a tribe of natives in the first stage of the trip. For six months we will stay in the lands of the Guarã tribe (that's what they call themselves) on the western coast learning their language and the way they have survived in the Green Hell for generations. When we get ready, we shall sail along the rivers as further as we can and then continue on foot onto the heart of the continent._

_About the atmosphere on the ship, morale has risen incredibly since Tei-Nho told them that I was planing to save the slaves from the beginning, and even more now that thanks to the natives my crazy strategy may actually work. As the last action of the day, I ordered fixed course to the West._

_Note: The "broken slave" is called Jurema._

* * *

Authors note: For the Sothorosy language I use words from the Tupi Guarani speaked by Amazonian native, but with terrible conjugation.


	2. Chapter 2

The words in italic are either the pages of the Green Volume, or the dialogues in Sothorosi betwin Mogaro and Jurema. Captain Mogaro Mutis apologizes for the delay, but he was closing his university trimester and did not have time to devote to the Green Volume.

* * *

**Mogaro Mutis travle Journals: The Green Tome**

**Year 374 after the Doom of Vlyria; 260 after the Conquest; 502 of the Golden Dynasty.**

_Day 25_

_Today we finally arrive at Basilisk Point. If we want to get lose of the corsairs we must turn South as fast as the "Whale" allows us, even if I have to tow it with the Errant Queen´s oars, Einar Farwy told me it was excessive but I asked him to stay behind to make sure that we are not being followed by the corsairs, if everything goes as planed, he should catch up with us in two or three days._

_Basilisk Point is a peninsula once inhabited by peaceful people, but the savage Brindled Men pushed them north until they had to migrate and take their civilization to the island of Naath, this being the origin of the Peaceful People. It is hard to believe that such calm folk could have theri early roots in such hostile place, but the interesting thing is that in the Naath compendium of legends that I consult it is writen that Sothoryos was not always hazarous place and that creatures such as the basilisks that now infest the area arrived from the South, even suggesting that the Brindled Men did not arrive as invaders, rather they were fleeing from them. Whether real or not, Gaez zo Rheezan told me that I should avoid the place like the plague because iron coral grows on the coast and the reef that surrounds the coast has caused dozens of shipwrecks. I shal follow his advice. Strange winds from the North._

_Day 28_

_The winds become increasingly violent and the tides are also showing signs of storm, but the cold sun that barely warm us reminds as our only hope. As long as there are no black clouds, there is no storm. We had to move a few miles away from the coast for fear of the ship getting out of control and hitting the reefs, but that is not what worries me the most, what worries me are the Guarãs, who are dying. Many of them were already weak when we got them on board, and although the healers of the "Whale" assure me that no signs of illnes can be found, I can't stop thinking about the dead wyvern I saw in the market of Gogossos, and how it olso died in a ship´s winery. As a positive point, the wind has blown away the bloody bugs that followed us since the Isle of Tears, so there will be no deal with diseases during the next few days._

_While the sea shackes with violence, the dense jungle at our left swings gently, and like siren singing its murmur invite me to enter its foliage and lose my reason. It makes me think of my old master Lun-Hu, and Ulthos, and how the magnetism emanating from his danger and beauty made us forget our common sense. Not this time. This time, with diciplination, with rigor, we shall conquer the Green Continent on our own terms._

_I Miss Yu-Hang's drawing skills and hope he has already made sketches while traveling aboard the "Shark" so when we find each other tomorrow he can proceed draw the Guarã people while I interview them._

_Day 31_

_This morning a torrential rain has fallen over the ships giving us new life. There are clouds, but white, not black, and the winds have diminished so much tha oars were needed to queep the pace. I must say, I have never seen sailors so happy to paddle before. Meanwhile, the Guarãs seem to have been reborn, they have all come out on deck to venerate Juruparí, the divine incarnation of the jungle´s rain, the children sing songs and play cheerfully while adults look way less elusive than the were before. Tei-Nho has spoken with them and they have told her that now that Juruparí saved us from the fury of the sea, they know that he is the one who sent us to save them. Tei-Nho wanted to explain that we are not sent from any god, but I ordered her to be silent about it. If the Guarãs choose trust us, there is no point in looking for a problem where there is none. I took advantage of the cheerful atmosphere and Ti-Nho trasnlating skills to interview Jurema about his tribe and the place they inhabit._

_Even having significantly improved our travel conditions, several sailors constantly look North, counting myself among them. Where is the "Shark"? Where are Einar Farwynd and Yu-Hang?_

_Day 33_

_Blessed be, we have sighted the "Shark". The clear sky and the use of Myrienses eyes has allowed us to see it from great distance, but the longship advances at a good pace and should reach the "Errant Queen" before sunset. Their presence means that the corsairs have not followed us, or at least that they are no longer following us, and its figure in the horizon has made the whole crew happy, even the Guarãs who seem to fear the ironborn after how they massacred the slavers in the Isle of Tears. It may be too soon to celebrate, but since the torrential rain fell over us, the seek ones of the Guarã tribe have beeing recovering, with some luck there will be no more deaths until we reach their lands. We have spent several hours talking with Jurema and other members of the tribe. Tei-Nho is a sublime expert in the art of languages that has managed to turn the dusty Sothorosy we took from the textbooks in Volantis into an elegant fluency proper from natives alone. As for me, it is not difficult to understand them, but my hideous pronunciation makes hard understanding for others. From what I manged to comprehend, the Guarãs do not measure time like us, still, they have been living in the limits of the jungle and the Green Hell for several generations in a place they call "Ypy Ñaña", a name that amused me until Tei-Nho translated it as "The beginning of evil." Apparently they chose Ypy Ñaña because of a "very fertile" ground, but i belive the word could olso mean "magical" or "supernatural." We will discuss this at dusk when Yu-Hang arrives and see what precautions must be taken._

_To everyone's surprise, the "Shark" reach us two hours after noon. The longship shows no signs of fighting, but they were saling so fast that I thought for a moment they were going to crash into the stern of the "Errant Queen." Einar Farwynd got on board in person and told us that a gargantuan storm is coming from the North, that right now we are in his eye and if we do not find a bay where to shelter the ships we shald find our end. "We", because he made cristal clear that he will not wait for the "Errant Queen" and much less for the "Whale" if we fall behind. Meditating on what I wrote during the morn...yes, I celebrate to soon. The maps show a bay South where we are, but Farwynd says that the storm is one of the fastest he has ever seen, and that its currents will reach us tonight. The "Whale" has no oars, so we have passed all the possible natives and cargo to the other two ships to make her faster. If we move at full speed, we may survive, if not, the Green Volume couldl be a much shorter book than I foresaw._

_Day 34_

_The race was brutal. The sailors thow up and faint in the oars and one of the men who got on board in Volantis broke a leg when after falling from the mast. The handling of the sails is the most delicate matter, if we do not take advantage of the wind behind us we won´t the right necessary speed to outrun the storm, but at the same time, leaving them open carelessly can tear themor even drag us back into the huricane. The "Whale flies over the waters at greater speed than ever, but still slower than the other two ships and with strong winds it is too dangerous to tow it. At first we send messages from one deck to the other with arrows, but since midnight yesterday it became imposible. True to his word, Farwynd went ahead without waiting for a second, but thanks to the bouys they thrown into the see it has benn posible to succesfully avoid the iron reefs. These words ar being write shortly before dawn, and if we don't reach the bay in less than three hours, these could be the last, If they are, I die without fear and in my own terms. Valar Morghulis._

* * *

Mogaro watched Yu-Hang placing the acupunture needles on the leg of the unfortunate man who had fallen from the mast while the healer mixed ingredients in a mortair for a paste that accelerates healing. Mogaro knew that both men were extremely skilled, but there were no needles or pastes to solve the splintered tibia that peeked through the sailor's leg. His name was Bassen, and he kept joking and drinking rum, but the sweat and grimace he put on every time he looked at his leg revealed that he was all but well.

\- You are a brave one and a fast thinker, with a repetition crossbow you can be one of the watchmen of the ship

\- So you won´t take me on the expedition? I promise not to fall again - the laugh drowned in his throat when Yu-Hang removed a piece of bone that was embedded in a muscle and put it back in the right place.

\- Come on, don't tell me now you're afraid of the corsairs. - The man was smiling, but his face seemed to be on the verge of tears.

\- Please Captain, take me with you to the Green Hell, even if just until the first part. I will walk as fast ... please.

\- We'll see. We will stay with the Guarãs for a few months to learn from them, until then rest and recover. - The healer came forward and interrupted him.

\- Captain Mogaro, Bassen, I'm sorry but the time has come - Mogaro nodded, gave the sailor a rag to bite and they the two of them immobilized him while Yu-Hang recited a final mantra with the palms of his hands resting on the wound and then violently pull the leg and returned the bone to its original position inside it. Bassen eyes whent blank and he passed out immediately.

Mogaro looked at the man's leg and then looked give and inquiring glare at the two wise healing man.

\- No, not a chance. - Yu-Han replied. The tanned face and thick gray eyebrows had always given him an air of experience and an hardness, but now his eyes overflowed compassion.

He had fear it. Even if the bone healed well, the leg would be too weak for the man to undertake a walk that would last months. With any luck his leg would not get so stunted and he would be able to work on a merchant ship, but his days as intrepid explorer had come to an end, and he suspected that Bassen knew it as well. He left Yu-Hang in the cabin with his acupuncture and his hands that transmit supposed currents of vital energy and went out on the deck of the "Whale."

The bay had nothing to do with the Sumer Islanders had drawn on the map, Mogaro would had describe it as a sandy cove, but in the absence of other options he make the ships to run aground inside it. Once in the deck, wet wind got into his eyes and hit his back like a hammer, yet Mogaro's head was not there, it was still in the cabin with Bassen. Perhaps he was taking it too personal, being willing to die was a basic requirement to join the expedition ... but to leave your home to have the adventure of a lifetime and have loosing the chance at the last moment while the others keept going, that was too sad to say in words.

More than 200 people were waiting for him in the cellar. It was a spacious place with several cabins that had been built to accommodate the slaves in single beds and function as a brothel, but after some adjustments it was fit to shelter the Guarãs and fofr the time being, many crewmembers of the "Errant Queen" and some ironborn from the "Shark". As soon as he entered he felt 200 pairs of eyes on him, but to his surprise the atmosphere was much more relaxed than he expected. The natives talked with the crew and saw several people with bowls of hot broth. When the fumes of the cauldron in a corner of the cellar reached him, he sudently realize he had not eaten anything since the las time he added something to the Green Tome, so he served himself a plate and tooked a stance by the brazier. He knew life. The soup was made with the meat, onions and carrots, a thick substance that melted in the mouth and had a spicy touch that Mogaro was not able to identify but that filled his chest with heat. As was his custom, we asked the cook to breake and egg in the broth so that it was cooked with the heat of the substance. On the other side of the brazier some people were gathering around Einar Farwynd and the native warrior who had the demon branded in his forehead. Both were arguing in trade talk.

\- No you fool, I already told you that you can´t to show me your dice

\- But how will you know if I don't show?

\- I have to guess your dice, and you have to gess mine, thats how you win.

\- If Einar not know my dices I show them, the we can both win

The crowd burst out laughing while Einar Farwynd shouted and waved his hands exaggeratedly to explain the rules while the Guarã warrior looked at him from his full height as Eniar was a child who had invented something. Before finding out what was happening Jurema was ahead of him.

\- _Einar said he could teach a Guarã to play dice. Einar bet with Egil_ \- Jurema only speaked sothorosy so the captain had to respond with the little he had learned.

\- _Looks like he is going to lose._

\- _We don't understand what betting is, he's going to lose for shure. Einar left you behind the storm, but now Mogaro is his friend, aren't you mad?_ \- Mogaro turned and then took a seat in the small bed at Jurema´s side

\- _I like Einar, but he not Mogaro's friend. He works for gold –He showed her one of his rings so she could understand– Without his help we crush whith_ ... "Reef" -he didn't remember the word in sothorosy so he had to say it in his language- _It's more help than I expected_

\- _"Paraita", the stone of the sea is called Paraita. You speak better now Mogaro Mutis. Paraita is a god just like Juruparí, attracts fish and drowns corsairs. He is a friend of the Guarãs._– The captain almost corrected her by sayin that the corals were just sea creatures, but ... Was he sure enough to correct her? Guarãs had been living next to the iron coral for generations and he wanted to impose a point of view from an old dusty book. It was that attitude that had doomed the other explorers, if there was someone wrong, surely that was him.

\- _Einar is good for now, that's what matters. How are Guarãs doing?_

\- _The big canoe is terrible for us, but we will endure, we are close to the land of the ancestors and it gives us strength to continue._ \- The woman never smiled, but there were times that she seemed to iradiate feeling of happines. The young woman had been an indispensable bridge betwin them and her people, and Mogaro was happy to see that she was happy, even if it was only a little. When they entered Sothoryos she would be even more useful.

-_ That makes me glad . we care a lot about Guarãs, that's why we rescue them from corsairs, and why we return you to the land of ancestors_ \- The joy that seemed to emanate from Jurema vanished and she looked into his eyes with a face that now showed contempt. In Gogossos he had not noticed, but the natives had dark crimson eyes that in Jurema's stoic face were ruthless. The brown eyes went down and the red ones remained nailed to his like arrows.

\- _Mogaro Mutis, you are an interested man and your reasons for saving my people are nothing but selfish. Yet you save us, and that is why I even speak to you. Let me give you this advice, only a strong spirit can enter the depths of the jungle and not break, and yours is as fragile as the leg of the man who fell. Be a better man Mogaro Mutis, or your curiosity will lead yo to your death._

Without saying more she took the empty bowl of Mogaro while he was looking open mouthed and took it to the where they were being washed. Two sailors stopped in their way to admire her curves, but Mogaro was still stunned because what she had just said. He was an interested man? Of course he had rescued them to be guided later, but he could have done the same without releasing them and using them as slaves. What was wrong with making a deal that beneficiated everyone? did that stupid girl was not able to understand how the world worked? The volume of the laughter incrised and a cadet brought him a rum skin, but Mogaro was not able to accept it, he was too busy thinking about the meaning of what Jurema had said, well, to be precise, in the answers he could have gave to make her come to reason. His concentration was interrupted when Einar Farwynd violently kicked the dice that were on the ground and placed a handful of coins in Egil's hands. He went to the small bed were Mogaro was resting and took the place that Jurema had left empty.

\- I'm not in the mood to talk Farwynd

\- I saw you talking to Jurema. Did you fight with your sothorosy thrall? or is it a saltwife allready?

\- She is not a thrall, she is a person like you or me - Anger passed quickly as I had arrived, and he could only sigh - A person who called me selfish

\- JAJAJAJAJA, well, if it makes you feel better you can raise my salary, that will make yo feel more generous

\- "Ha-ha-ha" talking about your salary, what taked you so long? We thought the "Shark" had sunk, or worse, what you had fleed with my gold.

\- I recognize that the idea has tempted me more than once, working dor gold instead of taking it by force is a strange concept for the ironborn. Didn't thin eyes told you?

\- It's Yu-Hang for you, and he's busy attending to the man who fell from the mast. Tell me.

\- Very good, but there is nothing to worry about. The corsairs did not took long to find the bodies we buryed because they sent a war galley to reach us. They did not know that I was with you, and as they saw me sailing in the opposite direction they let us pass by, a chance we took to place ourselves behind them and set their sails on fire and flee without suffering any casualties.

– Didn´t they chase you?

\- They tried, but those galleys are hard to maneuver and a ship that size can only move fast with oars for few time with no help of the wind. The real problem came latter, as someone with half a brain probably arrived at the Isle of Tears shortly after the galley left, for the next day three swift ironborn longships appeared nehind us. We thought that our larger longship would give us more speed for the extra paddles, but the little shits sailed taking shifts in wedge formation to reduce the resistance of the waves and the effort of the oars´men . If it hadn't been for the hurricane they would have catch us soon after Basilisk Point. Isn't it funny? fucked by the Drowned God but saved by the God of Storm. So mmuch for my religion.

\- They sank?

\- Did´t stay to find out, we were a little busy trying not to sink. The most experienced ones in the Shark were certain that the hurricane was getting stronger, so we thought best to reach you and let you know. Don't worry, without proper shelter those little shits shure breaked under the waves as if they were made of sugar. - Mogaro put his hand on his chin to reflect. He did not share the optimism of Einar Farwynd.

\- They know how many ships we have ... and now they know we are going south. This could give us problems later

\- Relax lorathi, even if they manage to stay aflote by some miracle it´s too late, we have left their waters and none of them will sail this far South just to take revenge on a slave liberator.

\- They sailed this far South to capture a hundred slaves, do you think they would not sail this far South to capture even more slaves and three ships?

The irorborn's silence was all the answer he needed. Both spent the next hour staring at the brazier while the murmur of the crowd drecreased until only the whistle of the wind and the creak of timber was left. When the last embers went out, Einar stood up and said he would return to the "Shark" to be with his ironborn until the storm stopped and Mogaro offered to accompany him to the deck. Once the Einar went down where the boat was tied, instead of returning to the deck the captain stayed on the deck until the wind and water made him shiver with cold.

There was no longer any doubt, the stone radiated heat on its own, he felt warm in his pocket and even after taking it out and holding it with his cold hands the damned stone stayed the same as if someone had held it for several hours with warm hands. In Gogossos, when Egil told him that the black stone blocks were vibrating, he could not resist the temptation of taking a fragment of them with a chisel, but as soon as it separated from the large brick Egil said that he no longer feelt it "vibrating". Mogaro had kept it as a memory of a city that would probably never permited to even get close again, but the farther South they were, the vibration started again, even stronger than before. He had to take the risk, and there would be no better chance than that. He make shure no one was near and serched his between the folds of his clothes once more, but this time he reached a secret pocket. The stone he drew this time was polished and angular, and radiated a strange greenish light that bathed with its cold luminosity everything that reached its small radius. Fearing the worst, Mogaro approached the two stones. The green remained as green and bright as before, but under the light of it, the fragment of the Gogossos brick now revealed small geometric patterns with the color of molten metal that left him dumbfounded. He moved the stones away and put them back again, the symbols disappeared and reappeared but in a different order. "Magic" resounded inside his head. Silence. And an far more lasting silence. Then he laughed as he hadn't done in months, and the captain's mad laughter was engulfed by the wind. Being a better man ... Dealing with corsirs ... apparently there was something else to add to his list of concerns ... fucking magic.

* * *

**Year 374 After the Curse of Vlyria; 260 after the Conquest; 502 of the Golden Dynasty.**

Day 37

We went out last night with the night tide. The Guarãs already begin to recognize some landskapes, so i hope we leave this chapter behind and have the opportunity to learn to survive in Sothryos. The three ships sail together again and the respective crews seem more united now after spending all those days in the cellar of the "Whale", Many have come to talk sothorosi, and thanks to Tei-Nho even some of the natives had learn Trade Talk, and even the ironborn who embarked on this mission as mere mercenaries are excited with it.

The time spent at the small bay has not been a complete loss, this was an unique opportunity to get to know the local plants and animals. My sailors saw all kinds of plants, insects and birds, some say they have seen leopards and a fibber spoke of a strange elephant without ears nose or fangs that had a giant mouth and swam in a river, although comparing it with wyverns and basilisks, it is not so dificult to consider. Jurema has been very helpful to name those animals, but among all, the most useful has been Yu-Hang who has given me the first drawings he made on the journey with the ironborn and the surroundings of the bay. The natives are fascinated with his drawing skills and stand in line to see how he does it. When the expedition concludes I will include all the images that I can in the Green Tome so others can see the incredible things we have seen, and if my instinct is correct, that we shall see in the near future.


	3. Chapter 3

I´m very sorry for the delay people, I was traveling on an academic research and then I had to take care of some complications within my university due to the social revolution that is taking place in my country (may the constituent assembly win) and later because of the pandemic. For all these reasons I did not have time to sit down and write, or at least i didn´t have the necessary inspiration to leave the worlds contingency to enter in planetos. Henceford, I promise to do my best and produce a weekly chapter or at least a longer chapter if things get interesting.

I want to especially thank HarwinSnow for his support and good will, I recommend his fanfic "Sothoryos", a very good story with olready, like 30 chapters, and it has characters from the Fire and Blood book. With no further delay, I hope you enjoy the adventures of the intrepid capitan Mogaro Mutis and leave your comments good or bad.

Note 1: Mogaro Mutis now speaks the Guarã´s dialect fluently, so I will no longer announce lenguage changes unless it is important for the story.

Note 2: There are a few river terms that may be a little to especific (or maby I´m using them wrong).

* * *

**Mogaro Mutis Travels: Green Tome**

**Year 374 After the Doom of Valyria; 260 After the Conquest, 502 of the Golden Dynasty.**

_Day 44_

_Today at sunset we reached a many armed delta of a non-existent river in our compendium of maps. The natives say that this river increases or decreases with the rains, something that leads me to think about the possibility of previous explorers passing through the same place but during a different season, when it was only a swampy estuary too small to be mentioned. This is crucial information that, among other things, could explain why the bay in which we sheltered from the storm was so different from the one that appeared on our maps, and if the rivers grow, decrease and change their location with the rains and droughts, the help of the natives will be indispensable. While they prostrated in the direction of the ocean to thank Paraita's protection during the return trip, I sent a group of divers to find an arm of the delta without iron coral and deep enough for the keel of the "Whale ". The river delta is home to a wide variety of creatures, and the most interesting one is undoubtedly a strange aquatic snake that lurked in small rock caves. Divers named them "whips" for their speed to catch their prey and returnig to their hiding place, some have asked me to carry buckets on the deck for Yu-Hang to draw. One of the swimmers was foolish enough to let himself to be bitten by one of the whips, but they do not appear to be poisonous. We have also found catfish, salmon, turtles, crabs and cranes, many of which now enrich our storeroom._

_Day 45_

_The fast and treacherous arms that make up the river delta have been a difficult test, but in contrast, the main river is a pleasant giant as big as the Noyne with a gentle and unrelenting current. It's hard to believe, but the Guarãs claim that in the autumn the afluents disappear and the main river becomes little more than a shallow stream and it has inspired me to name him from now on as the Great Waning. Yu-Hang has calified the name as obvious and pusillanimous but personally I prefer names that refrain from being poetic and provide clear information. Since I write about the Guarãs, I regret to say that I gained the rancor of the natives when I refused to sail directly to their lands, at least without first securing an escape route or at least a favorable fighting position in case of a frail. The positive side is that the anger of the natives is Tei-Nho´s problem, I will go ahead with the "Errant Queen" to explore the different branches of my Great Waning._

_Day 48_

_Sailing on the "Errant Queen" is a true pleasure, although the joy of the crew to leave behind the slowness of the "Whale" has been as brief as an alliance between khalasars, the pleasant sea breeze that followed the storm has been replaced by stagnant air and a humid heat that increases as we move away from the ocean, and the first mosquitoes also appeared attracted by the torches and treat themselves to a feast with the watchers of the night shift. __Its hard to believe those that were praying for their lives during the storm a week ago yearn to be back on the open sea, people are never happy with what they have. I have also been concerned, however my concerns are of a different nature. Where are the wyverns? Where are the basilisks? the insects that bring diseases, the giant apes, the painted men ... where are all the things that have brought failure to so many other expeditions? I know we have not yet entered the Green Hell, but the truth is I expected terrible things from this jungle and so far it´s no worse than the forest of Qohor or the jungle of Leng._

_These very last lines are writen after having drawn the main affluents of the Greate Waning in a simple way, a futile long-term effort, but one that allows us to correct our outdated maps and in the worst case gives us a modest advantage over possible pursuers. After meeting with the "Whale" and the "Shark" to deliver a copy to each captain, it will be time to disembark properly and let the Guarãs guide us to their ancestral lands._

_Day 49_

_Since we still do not know what awaits us in the village, I have formed a small group mostly with native warriors who know the territory so we can cautiously approach it by land. In the absense of pirates, I shall blow my horn, otherwise, If the sun rises and the horn remais silent, the "Shark" and the "Errant Queen" will launch a frontal attack while we remain hidden and cut off their retreat to the jungle. We offered them weapons but the natives rejected them and made spears, bows, and blowguns from trees and liana, also the warrior with the dangerous slave brand on his forehead disappeared into the thicket and returned with dead frogs that the Guarãs carefully rubbed on their arrowtips. On the Island of Tears the Guarãs were helpless, but in the Sothorosy jungle, in THEIR jungle, it was our turn to dread as we observed how the timid and affable natives became predators. It is time to move forward, I leave my Green Tome behind in the hope of writing again on it._

_Guarã village is, or better said was, a fluvial settlement where members of the tribe scattered throughout the territory gathered to exchange goods and perform their sacred rites. The village was intended to house around 150 people, but of the large wooden huts, only blackened wooden skeletons remain hovering above the green carpet that covered the ground in the absence of humans. Perhaps I was naive, establishing a base for future forays is the mindset of an explorer while a pirate only takes what he can and then takes off. I gave the signal for the "Whale" to disembark the rest of the tribe and the members of the expedition. The remains of the village are in a quite favorable position as it is adjacent to one of the deepest affluents of the Great Waning, so we will help the Guarãs rebuild it and also enable the dock for our ships._

_Day 50_

_The Guarãs have told us about a group of gatherers who stored their supplies in a hidden refuge, including what we belive to be flour, something that we must get as soon as posible to enforce our decreased provissions. We shall take three small carts and twenty strong men to pull them, a necessary inconveniet due to how short the beasts of burden survive in Sothoryos. Jurema taught us among other things that by rubbing fetid berries against the skin and burning some wild herbs insects can be kept away, that black ants are harmless but the red ones can skin you in an instante, and above all, to avoid soil without ferns because they are mortal traps of mud covered in moss. We have trudged through the jungle with axe and knife for the last three hours covering a distance of one and a half leagues, four miles, or 12 Li (These kind of situations makes me yearn for an empire that conquers all and impose an unique bloody way to messure distances) while the Guarãs crossed throw the vegetation with the elegance of beasts as if their bodies were liquid smoke sliding through the branches. The corsairs were very lucky to attack the natives when they were not in the jungle, otherwise they would have had no chance. Not even the dragon lords would have had a chance._

_When the sky began to darken and we finally reached the village, we had a fortuitous event that was out of all our losses. One of the native guides began shouting and babbling in Sothoros, something we did not understand but that made the other guides run in his direction. and a quarter of an hour later, our surprise was great when we found them with some thirty natives that we had never seen before. Jurema explained to us that while the corsairs attacked the town, a group of elders escaped into the jungle and had hidden in the refuge, a large stilt house camouflaged with palm leaves. The boats are far away and it is dark, so we stay here, and as I write these words, I watch as men, women and children of the Guarã tribe dance around the fire and sing in their beautiful language. In the absence of Tei-Nho, Jurema tries to explain the meaning of the song to me, and what he managed to understand is more or less the following:_

_The fire from heaven has been quenched_

_and yet we can still see each other_

_why the tiny stars_

_they shine more at night_

_because in the deepest darkness_

_the little lights get brighter_

_When the sadness is greater_

_The more joy is felt_

_in fear you are brave_

_out of fury comes calm_

_in ignorance you learn_

_And in the jungles of death, Ypy Ñaña is a paradise._

* * *

The crewmen who had made their entrance relentlessly were now slowing down almost to a full stop, and when they resumed the march their advance was cautious, and their steps were barely audible above the noise of the alchemical ingredients being grind in the mortar. The man sitting across the table paused what he was doing and gave them an impatient look.

\- I'm building an alchemical crossbow, if I am distracted while mixing the ingredients this will explode in someone's face, so be brief.

The captain's cabin on the "Errant Queen" was the same once occupied by the previous capitan when Mogaro Mutis was a just a 17 years old grummet, but back then the room was decorated with jade-green tapistry and exquisite golden wood furniture and the shelves were full of navigation instruments and treatises of philosophy, astronomy, art, and any subjects that were part of what Lun-Hu described as "What elevates men above beasts. " On the left side of the room was a desk with neatly stacked documents and piles of clean parchment, on the right, facing the desk, there was a great canvas with a beautiful map of the Known World painted in exhaustive detail and over them there was a jade chandelier that provided light when it was not entering throw de cristal windows. If the eight sailors had entered ten years before, they would have felt invited by the atmosphere of order and beauty, even without knowing him they would know that the owner was a rich, powerful and extremely coult person, but If that's what they hoped to find, they had entered ten years too late. The golden wood furniture had been replaced by simple shelves that displayed glass jars with all kinds of animals, plants and potions while the compendia of art and philosophy had been replaced by chronicles of fallen civilizations and books on alchemy, magic and secrecy. Whoever entered the study had to cross a dimly lit room between bones of unknown animals and heretical treatises to reach the desk where the dark silhouette of the captain now contrasted with a map of dull colors with sections that other maps lacked, among them a large stretch of land in the lower right corner showing the word **Ulthos** in red ink. It was a cheap intimidation trick and Mogaro Mutis loved it, especially the part when they turned around restlessly when they heard the door closing behind them. After an awkward silence, one of the idiots he had recruited at Volantis stepped forward. It was one of the good sailors, not of the crazy ones. What a bad luck.

– Ca-Captain Mutis ... w-we found a grove of red teak, if we cut some trees and load them in the "Whale" ...

– No. No one touches anything– Mogaro intended to end the conversation at that very moment, but this good sailor was not clever enough to get it

– But sir, why not?

– And why yes?

– Red teak is worth a lot, a tenth of its weight in silver at least, with the wood of a single tree we would earn a fortune. You would earn a fortune.

– A fortune indeed, and do you know why? Because when clever fucks like yourselves come to Sothoryos and chop down trees, they are attacked by tree bark wasps. The wasp lay their eggs under the skin and then the larvae migrate to the bones and feast on the marrow, "Wormbone" they call it. I like the name, it gives all the relevant information, although perhaps "larvabone" would be more accurate.

– ...

– Not so greedy now, are we? Anything else?

The sailors had been shocked by the atmosphere of the room, the horrible description of the disease but mainly by the cold irony they perceived in his voice, or at least that seemed to the captain considering how quickly they left. Some books taught how to treat wasp stings and kill the larvae before it reached the bone, if he wanted he would have no trouble getting some logs on his boat and sell it in the Free Cities, but why? So they could make it into cyvasse pieces? Into fine furniture? The volantinos would surely build one of those horrible ships named after a triarch, and for that it was better to leave the trees and the wasps alone. Mogaro Mutis got up and crossed the room thinking about how unpleasant it would be to have a worm digging inside his femur, and with that unpleasant mental image he pushed the heavy thick curtains that he had closed to give a dark aspect to his study. Sunlight penetrated the room revealing the nuances that had been hiden by the was essential to alchemy because there were many experiments that could end badly if they came in contact with fire, and the one he was conducting at this ocation was a particularly delicate one. To do alchemy one had to know how to master fear, but he had made that mixture so many times that it was almost boring. The heavy sweating was from the weather. Some time later, just while he was placing the mixture inside the crossbow, Tei-Nho entered the room without knocking on the door. Mogaro, who had been about to drop the container with the mixture, shot her a murderous look as she grabbed a random book from one of the shelves and leafed through it with a smile on her lips. Tei-Nho was a woman with a strong and slender body like a reed, straight black hair held in a braid and light eyes that were always cheerful. She had arrived on the ship before Mogaro Mutis and yet never claimed her captaincy, even though at the time Mogaro had been twenty years old and she twenty-five. Seven years later, she continued to serve as first officer of the "Errant Queen", and when alone, she continued to completely ignore his authority as captain. Mogaro put the container down on the desk with trembling hands and instead of shouting a succession of insults and curses he preferred a more diplomatic approach.

–"War Machines" by Ayrmidon, excellent book

– Without a doubt– She said in a voice that expressed the opposite. After returning the book to the shelf, she walked towards the desk - What are you doing?

– I'm putting together an alchemical crossbow in case we find wyverns on the next incursion.

– Are you talking about those ruins that the natives fear so much?– Mogaro nodded while Tei-Nho took the metal cylinder and inspected it carefully– Yu-Hang tried to explain me once how these alchemical crossbows work but I didn't get a word

– It is simpler than it seems, you use the same principle that the festive fires that you launch into the sky in Yi Ti during the celebrations, only that instead of loosing off firecrafts this one expele arrows– The woman did not show much more interest in the crossbow, but her chin fell in amazement as her slanted eyes fell on the projectile on the other side of the desk. – You noticed already?

– It's a Valyrian steel arrow!

– That's right– Mogaro raised the dart and brought it closer to the window so that she could appreciate it better– And the shaft is dragonbone. An adult wyvern could decimate the entire expedition if we don't have the means to kill him or at least hurt him, so I got some of these.

– How much ... how much did all this cost? – The woman said with worry expresion

– You don't want to know, I promise –Mogaro put the arrow back in one of the shelves– What news do you bring me?

– Einar says that the compendium of maps you gave him is useless because many have rivers as a point of reference.

– And if the rivers change places... there is no point of reference. It does not matter, soon we will draw a real map. Do you have the report?

Inventorying and organizing an expedition was not as stressful as preparing an explosive alchemic mixture but it was much more tedious. Instead of calculating how many measures of quicklime were needed to make a flask of wildfire, it was a matter of calculating how many arrows were needed to defend an expedition, how many trunks were needed for scholars to transport their instruments, how much gold the ironborn needed to continue providing their services and especially how much siplies were needed to feed all that crowd. That last part did not worry him too much since the Guarãs had shared their food reserves with them and had recently been taught how to find food in the jungle. When he was done calculating, he decided to get off the ship to give the instructions in person and stepped out onto the deck under the sunset light and cross the suspension bridge that had been built between the stearn of the "Errant Queen" and the river dock. The newly appointed chief Arandú allowed outsiders to build a dock suitable for their boats, but he strictly forbade them to interfere with the works within the village, and Mogaro had to accept their terms. For some reason the Guarãs did not want them to see how they prepared the land or obtained wood, but when it was ready, Mogaro was surprised by its ring shape, the cabins attached to the palisade and the wide space in the center where the natives gathered to perform daily activities from cooking to the most sacred rites.

The captain passed the village and headed for the fortified camp he had built to establish the main expedition's first land base. The camp was where the smaller expeditions would part from and when the main expedition moved, it would serve as a reference point or retreat heaven should any inconvenience occur. Adding the crews of the "Wandering Queen" and the "Whale" there were more than a hundred people among sailors, scholars and warriors, many of them two or three of those at once, some young, others experienced and some even women. There were times when Mogaro felt like the archon of a small town. The first person he should speak to was his second officer, he found him with a group of scholars dissecting an albino bat and Yu-Hang seemed to be in the middle of a heated discussion with several of them. Mogaro intervened before things got complicated and took him away from the table so they could speak alone.

– It is a fascinating specimen, similar to other vampires and yet unique among them. I proposed that we cage it to study the behavior, but these troglodytes only think of opening it like a chicken to count the stomachs. Only one by the way, the blood bag is an extensible appendix.

Mogaro didn't care too much about the method they used, rather he was content just with the fact that someone had figured out how to kill the bloody vermin that bothered the watchers every night, but yet he still respected the man's fascination with protecting life in all its forms. In what respected Yu-Hang, he was also an unique specimen.

\- Calm down old friend, remember that they are here only to give credibility to the expedition, soon we shall know enough to enter the Green Hell and then we´ll make the real discoveries while they stay here cutting bats.

They continued talking about the fascinating anatomy of the creature as they walked through the different areas of the fortified camp. In the kitchen, sailors who had learned from the natives how to use blowguns were smoking a wild boar, while in the training camp the ironborn exercised with wooden swords. The last stop was the tent where the qartheen healer had set up a modest field sanatory with basic suplies and litters. At that tim the healer was attending to a crewman who had been bitten by a swarm of insects while Jurema translated the words of an old woman who explained how certain plants could reduce itching. Mogaro was glad to see that his people had the common sense to learn as much as they could from the locals, knoladge that would proof unvaluable in the later months if tha stories about Sothoryos were half true. Since Mogaro olso had his own subjecto of interest, he left a confused Yu-Hang in charge of the translation and left with Jurema at the other end of the camp.

One of the things that had caught the attention of outsiders was the great speed with which the trees replenished the fruits they collected for food reserves, and how the white tubers that were the origin of the mysterious flour of the Guarãs grew throughout the jungle floor serving as an inexhaustible source of livelihood. Eventually someone had the idea to plant the grains that we brought in the ship's pantry to see if they were the plants or the soil

– This is just ... I seriusly can't describe this! Did you know that in Essos takes four moons for the wheat to be ready to be harvested? Damn it, on the island of The Reach takes three moons, and everyone says it is the most fertile land in the known world. Here a moon has passed and it's almost ready!

– And how do people live in those places? Are they hunters? - The Guarãs did not understand agriculture because they were unable to understand the concept of someone having to "work" the land for it to bear fruit.

– No – Mogaro ansered while kneeling down to get a closer look– They remove the stones and dig channels for the water to flow. Sometimes they mix the earth with saltpeter or animal droppings to fertilize it, do you do any of those things? - Jurema shook her head.

– The only thing we do is tear off the vaika'a so that they do not contaminate the rest. Look, there is one right there.– Jurema stepped forward to pluck one of the stalks of wheat and held it out for him to examine. The wheat plant was divided into several stems instead of just one or two, and each ended in a spike of misshapen grains. Plants usually grew in a spiral pattern, but mogaro olso noted that the spike did had grown in twisted angles without any harmony. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he started noticing that other plants were also similar to the misshapen one, ass thei were following a patern of their own.

– What are this vaika'a you speak about? Do this happend to all plants or just to the foreign ones? – She shook her head again

– The elders say that the first ancestors made sacrifices to God Tekove and he gave them in return a land with food and no enemies. God of life Tekove helped the ancestors at first, but one day he started to go mad and the land he gave away also went mad. God of life Tekove is now a mad god Tavy, but he still is the god who helped the ancestors when they most needed, so we stayed to take care of the land and by so, take care of Tavy.

Mogaro smiled as he looked at the deformed plant and made notes on a parchment. The legend of the nature that changed for the worse had a vague resemblance to one from Nath, that could mean that both folks had common ancestors, and that sure were something no one had theorized before him. For the Vaika'a he also had a theory: The soil was rich in certain minerals that accelerated growth, but sometimes made plants sick, just like used to happend near volcanos. What the Guarãs seen as another god of their numerous pantheon, for him it was just one more thing to write down on the long list of poisonous things from Sothoryos. Jurema way too sharp to not perceive his skepticism.

– You don't believe in history of the elderly, do you? – There was more curiosity than dessaproval on her tone– What do the people of your tribe believe Mogaro Mutis?

– In Trios. Some others believe in R´hllor or Bakkalon, but in essence they are basically the same: A creator god who rewards good and punishes evil

– You don't seem to believe very willingly

– it's not that I don't believe at all, it is just easier to believe in rain or corals when you see them in front of you, having faith in an invisible god who generates many doubts and gives few answers is ... complicated.

– I do not believe in gods animore Mogaro Mutis, not after what happened to my family. Rain is rain and coral is coral, they are no longer divine guardians for me. – The woman's features were as immobile as ever but for just a second, her features stopped being steel and became gentle and warm, as if the emotions plated inside overflowed. But only for a second, after amoment she turned to the captain and as usual Mogaro had to fled his look from her piercing garnet eyes.

– I didn't know you have ... that you had a family. –He fell the stare intesifaying on him

– You have never asked me Mogaro Mutis, you only ask me things that are useful for yourself or your "expedition". Chief Arandú told me that you wish to go to the ruins of the stone village, I recommend you to reconsider what I told you about being a better man and strengthening your spirit, or your curiosity will cost you dearly.

Mogaro was going to ask her if being a good person or having a strong spirit had been usefull when the corsairs ravaged her people´s settlement, but stopped at the last moment. It was a cruel comment and could cost him Jurema's good will. Justo the instant before he told her to get off her moral trash, the sound of screams and runing reached them from the other end of the camp. At first he thought it might be another fight between sailors, but when he saw people running in all directions shouting his name, he started to think it was something more sirious. He shouted to one of the runing sailors to notice him and the man ran in his direction.

– Captain! We need you to come right away, there are wounded men!

– What happened?!

– We do not know! A group entered the jungle and suddenly we heard their screams! One of them is convulsing!

Sailors and locals came running from all directions and gathered in the center of the camp and around Mogaro ipeding his advance, they all were speking laudly and at the same time so the capitan could not understand anything coherent among the torrent of words that were shouting at him. Being trap in the hiteric mob sudently make him lost his patience and with a fluid movement of his arm he snaped his whip above the croud extinghishing the uproar in a second. Everione jumped of suprise and then jumped out of his way allowing him to to reach the center of the multitude where four men were twitching in the ground with the appearance of having been bathed in their own blood. The astonishment left him speechless, even more so when someone passed a damp cloth over the face of the closest wounded man and he recognized one of the sailors who had asked him a few hours before about the red teak grove. "They couldn't have been that stupid" he thought stunned, and yet they had been. The healers gave up on the bandages and began cauterizing the wounds in the urge to stop the bleeding, but even the Qarth healer had serious difficulties doing so due to the number of cuts while Yu-Hang was unable to help him because he was too busy pressing the chest of a wounded who had stopped moving completely. When he finally recovered enough to ask what happened it was pointless, Mogaro Mutis already knew. One of the Guarãs chanted a prayer and Yu-Hang stopped pressing.

* * *

**Year 374 After the Vlyria Curse; 260 after the Conquest, 502 from the Golden Dynasty.**

_Day 79_

_This day, four crewmembers of the expedition sneaked out of the camp and were attacked by white bats, resulting in the first three casualties the expedition has suffered. From what we could deduce, the sailors thought the sweet smoke plants that the natives burn to keep away insects would also keep away the tree bark wasps I had warned them about, the problem was that none of them realized the teak grove harbored the colony of those pale vermin that had been bothering the lookouts, and after listening to the flapping of their wings one of them shoot the repeating crossbow in the wrong direction making the bats scared and fall over the intruders to devour them.  
_

_Tyroshi are always rebuked for being ambitious, but we do not take it as an insult since we believe ambition to be the origin of greatness. The desire for wealth generates trade routes, the thirst for power founds empires and in my case, the desire for fame and glory is what leads me to bring tree boats to the end of the world to draw maps, that's why when others accuse Isso Asturis, Myrlo Maar and Feng-Jian of being some greedy bastards, I say that in fact they lacked greed. I am not mad by the fact that they ignored my warnings, nor because they put the main expedition in danger, what infuriates me is that they did all this just for some sad silver coins, that they could have desire for so much and settled for so little. The fourth sailor still torns between life and death, _I hope that tomorrow there won´t be any need of add another name to these pages.

_Day 80_

_Thanks to the atentions of the Guarãs and Yu-Hang's miraculous ability to control the blood stream with needles, the sailor has managed to escape death. Because of the incident, I spent most of the morning arguing with Einar Farwind to discourage him from setting fire the entire grove, bats included, the threat of reducing his pay has proven to be an excellent argument, but so has the invitation to an even more interesting adventure. Since my crew is starting to behave like mongers, I shall give them the chance of once again being adventurers. I am putting forward the exepdition to the ruins Arandú told me about, Einar and I will command a group of 30 people with a single supply cart to move light and fast and we shall leave the day after tomorrow. If the natives take five days to arrive, with any luck we should be able live and be back in less than half lunar cycle, depending of course on how fast we advance... and how interesting it gets as we explore these lands of Ypy Ñaña._


End file.
